anderson



J. O. ANDERSON. Machine and Process for Disintegrating Clay, 8w.

No. 222,225. Patented Dec. 2, I879.

QTo all whomflii mafj 'c'oiic'ew't: 7 a I a M g 1' Be it knowuthat I, JAM S C. ANDERSON, of the eityof Pittshurg, Allegheny county, and State of Pennsylvania, have inven ted; a new anduseful. Machine andProcess forrDisintegrating Clay and Earth AllllVlHll], and disineor- Y e, oryrrrrseuse, PENNSYLVANIA lM PR OiVjE MlE NTTlN M ACH I NESFANDlPROCESSES FOR DISINTEGRATINGQLA ate;

a I Specification forming partof Letters Patent No. 222,225, dated December 2,1879; g a ;j1 Apri111, 1879.

porating and separating the metals therefrom,

which process is fully set forth in the following specification. a The invention relates to the disineorporation and separation of the clay andearth of the allnvi'um fropi the metallic deposits. 1 Heretofore the clays and earth of such alluvium have been flumed orwashed from the ores and metals, which method is objectionable on account of the great difficulty experienced in o obtaining an adequate supply of'wa'ter in many y parts-of the" country aboundingin rich gold and silver bearing alluviuni deposits, particularly whereperiodicaldry seasons of long duration'prevail, and itis also objectionable by reason of the great cost of labor incident to the washing of the allu'viuni, 1 r i e The first part of my inventionconsists in thoroughly drying th'eflalluyiuml as it is dug H from the bed,and thentsuhjeeting' the mass when dry to rapid concussion andattrition 3 within]asuitablerotating cylindrical shell-proided with asystetn of mechanism and screens,

which 'rnechanisin'was patented to meApril 22,

187 9, No.' 21et,481, andfby which theclay and 1 earth ofvthe alluviuni are disintegrated andsep-I arated', atornfrom ato1n,into'a fine powder without crushing or grinding the pebble-like deposits of gold and silver bearin gores and carbonates,which ores and carbonates, together with a the coarser particles of gold and silver, are disincorperated intact in theoperation,-an'd the V powdered clay and earth of the alluvium are i made topass through the screens to a hopper beneath the shell into the hopperI of the mechanism, which I will now proceed to describe, for carrying out the second part ofmy process and invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which' Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the mechanism, Fig.2 shows a longitudinalvertical central view, jandF-ig. 3 'shows a crosssectional view of the same.

A-cylindrical; shell, A isformed of suitable J material'and mountedupon trunnions O,"which 'trunnions have their hearingsupo "BATE NT work D. Suitable openings aref n a dethrough the center of the trunnions U to admit and allow the shaft E to pass lon gitudin ally, through v the center of the shell, which shaft-is secured rigidly to the frame-work F. Asystem QffliIlIlS, H, are keyed to this shaft in a vertical position, extending downwardly in close proximity to the periphery of the shell To thelower end of each of these are secured-plates h, which plates are placed in positionwiththeirlength across. the shell, and are made to converge slightly toward the dischargingend of the same in the direction of thearrow-point. An opening, a, is formed iii one of the trunnionheads of the main shell, the sidesof which opening are surrounded with a flange extending inwardly in such manner as to allow the alluvium to be fed into the shell by} meansof the hopper 1 while the shell isin motion, andto prevent the undue escape of the alluviuin, and for that reason the lead side of the opening and flange are inclined corresponding to the incline of the hopper, and fortheisame reason the flange is made much widerat this edge, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig.2of the drawings. A like opening, a, is formed in the other trunnion-head offithe shell, which opening is also surrounded by a flange extendand alnalgamating with the fine particles of gold and silver of the powdered-alluvium. By the rotation of the shell the quicksilver and alluvium are carried well up the sides of the shell, which imparts to them arapid rolling motion, and brings the alluviuin in repeated contact with the quicksilver, which seizes upon and ainalgarnates with the fine particles of gold and silver contained within'the powdered alluviurn. The clay is gradually bornelfrom the charging side of the shell in"the direction 0f the arrow-pointto the discharging-opening a by beingdriven against the converging plates h. These plates are made adjustable for speeding the ellnvium through the shell a suitable time to allow the gold and silver particles to be absorbed by the quicksilver, after which the clay and earth separated from the metals are discharged through the opening a. This opening is made a suitable height above the periphery of the shell to prevent the escape of the quicksilver through the opening.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The process herein described for separating the clay and earth of the a'lluvium from the metals and metallic ores, by first drying provided with the flangedopenings a and a,

and hopper 1, the stationaryfeentral shaft, E, provided with the arms H and converging plates h, substantially inthemanner and for the purpose set forth.

J. c. ANDERSON.

Witnesses CHAS. H. FROST, O. C. GREENLEY. 

